The melodic possibilities of the word Toronto – as well as its variations and names of surrounding suburbs – get a workout on the second studio album by Mississauga’s PARTYNEXTDOOR (aka Jahron Brathwaite).
Much like Drizzy’s Views, P3 spreads its tales of woe, heartache and sex across the GTA, and in doing so further aligns the city with OVO Sound’s minimal melancholy and bass-worshipping aesthetic.
The distance between men and women – emotional and physical – is at the core of many of these songs, yet the album manages to be the most playful PARTYNEXTDOOR record to date. Brathwaite was behind the most flirtatious moments on Rihanna’s Anti (Work, Sex With Me), and on P3 he breaks his usual moody monotony by letting loose over dancehall (Not Nice, Only U), a Prince-ian slow burner (Joy) and a finger-snapping slow jam (You’ve Been Missed).
Opener High Hopes establishes the best and worst of P3: a willingness to experiment with atmosphere by stacking melodies to impressionistic effect, but also an inclination to overindulge that experimental tendency.
Don’t Run is full of local name-checks (Brampton, Pickering, Caribana), a patois cadence and cheeky wordplay (“Sent a message to my Instagram / you’s a vegan but you going H.A.M.”), while the Drake-assisted ballad Come And See Me cleverly unpacks give-and-take relationship dynamics.
At the other end of the spectrum is Problems & Selfless, in which Brathwaite self-servingly calls out two women fighting over him. (“I hope my son has these problems.”) The song is typical of his banal, penis-size posturing throughout the album, which is not entirely unexpected but feels especially juvenile given the nuance and attention to detail in P3’s best songs.
Top track: Come And See Me, featuring Drake
